Workday launches mobile HTML5 apps to help HR pros on the go

Cloud-based HR software company Workday has launched the latest version of its suite with an emphasis on mobile access through HTML5 web apps, the company announced today.

Workday competes with SAP and Oracle in the professional software and services realm. With more than 280 customers ranging from medium-sized businesses to Fortune 50 companies, it is trying to come up with new ways to deliver and implement core human resources software like payroll, financial management, and human capital management. Now it will expand its already strong mobile offerings for the increasingly out-of-the-office workforce.

“So much change is happening in the mobile space right now, and we want to be part of that,” Workday CTO Stan Swete told VentureBeat. “The HTML5 app will let you do almost everything you can do in the native app. … The native apps are always improving too.”

The company plans to launch three big software updates this year, with its sixteenth overall version going live for all customers during the next week. The company will add HTML5 apps to the mix that will make its service accessible to all mobile devices, even if the user hasn’t downloaded a native Workday application. Workday notes that the updates include:

New Look and Feel: Workday 16 features significant enhancements to the mobile experience for the iPhone, iPad and other leading smartphone devices. A redesigned landing page delivers a sharper look and feel with more sophisticated navigation.Workday for iPhone: New enhancements include Organizational Swirl, Workfeed activity stream, time-off balances, requests and approvals, and analytics.Workday for iPad: Workday 16 delivers Anytime Feedback, time-off balances, requests, and approvals.

Pleasanton, Calif.-based Workday was founded in 2005, has more than 1,000 employees, and has raised an eye-popping $250 million to date. It last raised a staggering $85 million round led by T. Rowe Price, Morgan Stanley, Janus Capital, and Bezos Expeditions, the investment company led by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. The company will almost certainly go public this year.

You can see a few more of Workday’s latest HTML5 and native mobile implementations below: